


Little Goblin Girl

by ExtempoEtLoco



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Childhood, Family, Fluff, Friendship, I'm a little goblin girl, Papa Caleb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 21:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13420185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtempoEtLoco/pseuds/ExtempoEtLoco
Summary: Goblins don't get much of a childhood but Nott's okay with that. Really she is! Really...





	Little Goblin Girl

**Author's Note:**

> It's unclear at this point just how old Nott is and I find the others treat her as if she were an adult like them most of the time, which makes sense because she's a full member of the party (and also because Sam's a grown man). Still, it made me wonder loads of things about her relationship with Caleb and what it means to be a goblin child etc. and then I gave myself feelings about it X-D. Hope you enjoy this little exploration into the topic :)

Night was hard sometimes. It was harder to ignore the urges when Caleb was snoring loudly away and drunk people were out and about, pockets and pouches unattended. She was trying to be good though, because Caleb was having a rough time and the last thing he needed right now, or ever really, was for Nott to get them in trouble again. She was undeniably twitchy though and she knew if she didn’t move and shake it off a bit, she was going to wake Caleb with her shifting. It made her sad though because she was so comfy.

She liked it when they only had the one bedroll because then they had to share. Caleb was a cuddler when he was asleep and then Nott could pretend that he was cuddling her on purpose and not because it was a thing he did. She could pretend she was his little girl.

She disentangled herself from Caleb. It was easy, she was little and nimble. She gave him a little kiss on the forehead and shushed Frumpkin, put on her wrappings and cloak over her sleep clothes. Her sleep clothes also happened to be her travel clothes because they had lost all their belongings two days ago. Also, the rest of the party, which was a shame because Nott was really starting to sort of, distantly, not at all be comfortable with Jester.

She climbed out the window into the alleyway and stepped into something squelchy. She sighed, “Well, that feels familiar,” she murmured to herself. She took a little sip from her flask to steady her nerves. If she kept to the alleyways, maybe she wouldn’t run into any easy marks, though gods knew they needed the coin. In a moment of great personal strength, she turned on her heels and headed down the opposite direction from that which she had started in and made for the Trade District.

The houses there were nicer, the streets somewhat cleaner. The doors were heavier and better secured so it was a lot easier to not misbehave. She was curious by nature, couldn’t help it, and she loved looking through people’s windows. They had such lovely, lovely things...

She noticed one house with an accessible window on the first story, she could see from the street that the curtains were not drawn. She hesitated for a second, tried even to look away but the curiosity was too great. She waited to make sure there was no one in the street and scampered up the side of the wall.

She peeked through the window and saw that the latch had not been properly set. Oh sweet gods of the world... How was she supposed to resist? She slipped a claw in the small gap and disengaged the latch completely. The window creaked slightly as it opened and there was a light movement inside. She froze but when it did not repeat, she slipped herself inside, heart thudding and fingers itching. She took a few steps further in and saw in the light of the moonlight a small bed.

Nott was fascinated by humanoid children. They were so squishy and kind of dumb and their teeth were tiny and mostly in a row. They were kind of cute, sort of. Mean though. They were always mean to her anyway, like the grownups but you couldn’t hit them back or throw rocks at them because they were so squishy. And if you did, their parents would show up with swords and pitchforks and sometimes magic. It was just a bad idea all around. Still, they were interesting and when they didn’t know she was there, she liked to watch them.

She wondered sometimes what it might have been like to be a little human girl. This one wasn’t all human, she didn't think, and Nott was not entirely sure if it was a girl or a boy, they all looked more or less the same when they were little and unformed. It must be nice not to have to fight your littermates for scraps for one, and have your parents look out for you and cuddle you and sing you songs. And not get whipped because you were a little runty to begin with and liked to make friends with gnome children instead of slaughtering them on sight... A small beady eye opened and fixed itself on Nott’s face. There was a second of hesitation and Nott panicked.

She raised her hand and let out a long, drawn out, “Heeeey budddyyy....” and grinned. Bad idea. Definitely a bad idea. Should not have done that. The child opened its mouth wide and let out a shriek that would stun a banshee. Heavy footsteps sounded in the room on the other side of the wall and Nott dashed out the window. She almost dropped to the ground but then thought better of it and climbed instead. She perched at the edge of the roof and peeked down.

“Daddy! Daddy!” the child was screaming.

“I’m here! Pipe down love you’ll wake the neighbourhood,” a melodious male voice said, shushing as he spoke, “What’s wrong poppet?”

“There was a monster! It was here. It was looking at me!”

“Why is the window open?” the man said softly, “Honey, are you sure you didn’t get scared by a gust of wind opening your window?”

“There was a monster, daddy!”

“Alright, daddy is going to look under your bed,” the man said, “You see? Daddy has his shortsword, it’s going to be ok.”

“It’s not under my bed! It went out the window!”

Nott watched as a head with pointed ears poked out the window and looked down into the alley, “There’s no monsters here, poppet. I promise.” He pulled back inside and closed the window behind him. By the sound of it, Nott knew the window was properly shut this time.

She started to turn away, wondering just how the hell she was going to get off the roof now and thinking she had once again gotten herself in a pickle. Still, she couldn’t help the curiosity, it was a hard night for sure. She quietly and careful climbed down the wall again and looked back inside, there was a gap in the curtains and she watched as the man pulled the child up into his lap and held it against his chest. The child tucked its head under his chin, gripping his shirt and he rocked it slowly until it fell asleep. She left before he had finished tucking it back into bed because she was starting to smell the dawn, the subtle shift in the air as the ground and the street cobbles started to warm up and stink.

She scurried down alleyways and streets as fast as she could, people were getting up and life was starting again. She thought about humanoid children waking up to make their beds and do chores, and helping their parents in their workshops and jobs. They couldn’t go places and they didn’t get to meet interesting people and go into sewers and forests and caves and battle zombies or giant snakes... Not like Nott. Everyone treated Nott like an adult, mostly, they took her seriously, mostly. And well, Goblins never really got to be little because little things died quickly. It was definitely better. Yup. She wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Caleb was still sleeping, spread out on the bedroll, curled around the covers and drooling slightly. She unwrapped herself, dropped her cloak to the side and was about to slip back between his arms as if she’d never left when her hand found something soft-hard in her belt. She pulled out a doll.

Oh dear... how had that ended up there? Oh no. Oh no. She’d done it again! She hadn’t even tried. Oh she was going to be in so much trouble. Caleb would be so disappointed... Still, Nott hadn’t had a doll before. Well, one, briefly, and then she’d taken it’s face off to make her mask but that didn’t count. Nott did not collect dolls, they were just toys, they weren’t shiny and they weren’t worth much... and yet, now she had a doll and she wanted it. She tucked it under her shirt. Caleb didn’t need to know. Not yet. She’d tell eventually because she always told him but maybe she’d wait for a better time. Maybe when they had friends again to watch their backs when the angry mobs came at them again... She almost squeaked when Caleb snorted loudly and pulled her into him in an unconscious bear hug. She snuggled into him when she realised that he was still sleeping.

“Daddy,” she whispered, trying out the words. She shook herself slightly, don’t be silly Nott.

 

The End (Thanks for reading Critters :) )


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